Valentino Rossi cleared for Ducati debut in Valencia

Valentino Rossi has confirmed today in Phillip Island that he will make his hugely anticipated Ducati debut in Valencia next month.

Rossi told MCN that Yamaha boss Masao Furusawa had given him permission to test on November 9 and 10 following a conversation last night.

Rossi had been sweating for weeks on whether Yamaha would give him an early release from his contract to test in Valencia.

He had piled pressure on Yamaha management by constantly referring to his achievements for the Japanese factory, including winning four MotoGP world titles in 2004, 05, ’08 and ’09.

The longer Yamaha delayed a decision though the more it seemed that Rossi would be made to wait to make his Ducati debut until a three-day session at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia in early February.

But less than 24 hours before the Italian finished third in today’s Australian Grand Prix, Furusawa said Yamaha had agreed to grant him permission to test.

When Rossi moved from Honda to Yamaha at the end of 2003, HRC refused to release him.

Even Ducati had began to fear that Yamaha would not release Rossi from his contract, with Bologna factory boss Vittoriano Guareschi telling MCN in Phillip Island yesterday that he thought the chances of the 31-year-old being released were only ’20 per cent’.